Cheapskate stories

[squeakers]

I actually got peeved last month when I noticed that a friend balled up the tissue paper wrapping on her birthday gifts and put it in the nice gift bag to toss.  I'm considering using Starbucks tote bags from now on.

Use a kitchen towel instead of tissue paper: covers the real gift and is more green than tissue paper. Bonus if you can find a towel that is like the gift ie you bought a book and the towel has writing on it, Star Wars DVD set with a towel covered in stars, kitchen utensil with towel decorated with food.

[kymom3]

Squeakers I love that idea!  I hate to see people throw tissue away and I also reuse gift bags.

Kitchen towels from the dollar store will be about the same price or just a little more than tissue paper.

[bopper]

I have a cheapskate story to tell on myself!

I bought a pinata for my 3-year-old's birthday last week.  Usually I make them at home, but I got lazy and bought this one.  It was a pull-string pinata, so each kid pulls a string, and you wait until one kid pulls the right right and the pouch opens and candy falls out.  We used the pinata and had a lot of fun.

And then it occurs to me... the pinata is not all that beat up.  I could just sort of tape the compartment back closed, put new strings on, and replace any tissue paper that got too messed up with new tissue paper in the same color.  Easier than making my own, and I have two more kids who might want Elmo parties when they're 2/3.

I think it's sensible.  But there's just something that sounds so cheapskate about reusing a pinata!

Thrifty is reusing it on your little kids.  Cheapskate is making your 13 year old use it.

[Layla Miller]

In defense of the people who have thrown away tissue paper and gift bags...DH and I save that stuff too.  Except that we saved so many (baby showers, etc.) that we'd never use it all, and had to start throwing some of it away for space reasons.  So bear in mind that the person throwing them away may not have been wasteful--their closets may just already be bursting with them! 

[Elfmama]

I like the idea of a reusable piņata.  If it's reasonably salvageable, keeping the thing makes perfect sense. 

I've heard of young children who had a bit of distress when a piņata in the shape of an animal or person was destroyed.  Having Elmo attend several parties is a nice idea. 

We also keep and reuse gift bags. So long as they're in decent condition, they can be used to package gifts for others.  If the seams are starting to go, we'll tape them up and use them to package gifts for each other.  There's nothing wrong with that.

I make Xmas gifts bags out of fabric.  They come in very handy, especially for odd-shaped things like toys that are impossible to wrap neatly.  Just drop the gift in and tie the ribbons shut.  And it takes about the same amount of time to make a reusable fabric bag as it does to paper-wrap the stuff.

[Shalamar]

Except that we saved so many (baby showers, etc.) that we'd never use it all, and had to start throwing some of it away for space reasons.

Freecycle!  I got rid of a TON of gift bags last year that way, and they were snapped up immediately.  In fact, I got rid of a bunch of unused Valentines from when my kids were small (the cute little ones with Spiderman or Cinderella on them), unused Christmas cards, streamers, goodie bags ... you name it.  It freed up a lot of space in my study and made a Freecycler VERY happy. 

[Piratelvr1121]

I like the idea of a reusable piņata.  If it's reasonably salvageable, keeping the thing makes perfect sense. 

I've heard of young children who had a bit of distress when a piņata in the shape of an animal or person was destroyed.  Having Elmo attend several parties is a nice idea. 

We also keep and reuse gift bags. So long as they're in decent condition, they can be used to package gifts for others.  If the seams are starting to go, we'll tape them up and use them to package gifts for each other.  There's nothing wrong with that.

I agree. 

One woman from our church texted me earlier this week to see if I'd be interested in helping her organize a costume exchange.  I think it's a great idea, as expensive as costumes can get.  One year my middle son wanted to be Harry Potter.  I swear that costume ended up costing us about $40, at least because all that was in the bag was the robe and that cost at least $25, then you had to buy the glasses, wand, and Gryffindor tie separately at $10 each. 

So the thought of exchanging costumes is a great one, I think.  I've taken to putting together costumes from what I have at home, while just buying maybe one or two extra pieces.  This year I'm wanting to dress up as Tonks from Harry Potter and am trying to figure out how I can pull that off without buying much more than a pair of fingerless gloves for $10 from Hot Topic.

[Venus193]

I actually got peeved last month when I noticed that a friend balled up the tissue paper wrapping on her birthday gifts and put it in the nice gift bag to toss.  I'm considering using Starbucks tote bags from now on.

Use a kitchen towel instead of tissue paper: covers the real gift and is more green than tissue paper. Bonus if you can find a towel that is like the gift ie you bought a book and the towel has writing on it, Star Wars DVD set with a towel covered in stars, kitchen utensil with towel decorated with food.

Brilliant!

[CuriousParty]

Except that we saved so many (baby showers, etc.) that we'd never use it all, and had to start throwing some of it away for space reasons.

Freecycle!  I got rid of a TON of gift bags last year that way, and they were snapped up immediately.  In fact, I got rid of a bunch of unused Valentines from when my kids were small (the cute little ones with Spiderman or Cinderella on them), unused Christmas cards, streamers, goodie bags ... you name it.  It freed up a lot of space in my study and made a Freecycler VERY happy. 

Goodwill takes them, too!

[Iris]

I like the idea of a reusable piņata.  If it's reasonably salvageable, keeping the thing makes perfect sense. 

I've heard of young children who had a bit of distress when a piņata in the shape of an animal or person was destroyed. Having Elmo attend several parties is a nice idea. 

We also keep and reuse gift bags. So long as they're in decent condition, they can be used to package gifts for others.  If the seams are starting to go, we'll tape them up and use them to package gifts for each other.  There's nothing wrong with that.

OTOH I have been amazed and extremely amused with the ruthlessness that small children will beat a cute animal with a stick if there's LOLLIES to be had! Once when I made a pinata it was a bit tough and one particularly angelic looking girl stepped in when all others had failed, hit it hard enough to break the string holding it up and then proceeded to beat it with a stick while it lay helpless on the ground until she GOT HER LOLLIES!!!! Hilarious.

Of course this was more in the 5ish age group, I can see how it might distress very young ones.

[XRogue]

My best cheapskate story is about my uncle George. His daughter came to stay with him for 3 weeks last year while she looked for an apartment. Uncle has an unfinished apartment in his basement (In this case unfinished means the basement is finished out into a one bedroom apartment with bathroom and kitchenette. Everything is functional and walled, except there are no appliances in the kitchenette.)

Apparently Uncle didn't want to turn on the electricity in the apartment to save money. So his daughter was taking cold showers in the dark (windowless) bathroom for 10 days or so until she persuaded him to have the electric turned on. She did have a camping lantern for light. 

[SheltieMom]

My favorite bridal shower gift these days is a set of Pyrex baking dishes with the couple's monogram etched on the bottom. The set I like does not come in a box, so it is very hard to wrap and too heavy for a bag. I've started wrapping them in flour-sack towels. They don't look fancy, but at least they're practical.

[RegionMom]

My stepdad is supposed to be quite the handyman and skilled woodworker. 

he put in new floors for mom in the kitchen, and it only took just over a couple of months.  Oh, the edges do not go flush to the wall, he needs to buy/make the edging/baseboards.  But that will come sometime.

He says he is going to fix the paneling behind the stove, which currently has a plywood board over it, and holes for the electrical wires sticking out if it.  I have a baby pic of my son in someone's arms, with the plywood in the background.  Said son is now 17 1/2.

Stepdad has currently, at least since before May, been working on new cabinets for mom.  This is her on-going kitchen remodel, which began back when my kids were in junior high (now jr and sr in HS)

She told me yesterday that the cabinets are almost done!  Well, I was actually almost impressed!
Then she told me that once he finished up the last bit of work, then he has to stain them. 
Then he has to re-wire the electrical.  That means attic work.  Temps are still in the 90's.
then he has to hang them.
then do the knobs/handles.
etc...

I realized they may not be done by Christmas.

But, she is saving money by having him do it! 

Oh, both are full-time retired, and financially secure. 

She would rather be put out for months, and annoyed for years, than pay a contractor to get it done.

We had laminate flooring installed this year and it was done in 1 1/2 days, including moving the furniture, hauling off the carpet, cutting around weird corners, painting and installing matching baseboards, and re-placing the furniture.

I think I got the better deal.

[Sara Crewe]

I think this is a fairly good definition of a cheapskate - someone who will accept massive inconvenience and personal discomfort (and be happy to inflict said discomfort on others) to save a few dollars.  Doing something that saves money without significant trouble (like taking a coffee from home not going to a coffee shop) is just being thrifty.

[rain]

my dad would insist that anything a pro could do he could be better and cheaper (never saw proof of that)

there was one year that we were missing part of an outside wall & dad never did get around to finishing that project ... once mom had proof that she needed to hire it done (it was late enough in the fall that we could see our breath in the mornings) she got someone else to finish it. 

Mom (& the neighbors) learned not to mention anything that might be overheard by dad ... so that mom could hire it done without dad trying to do it himself